Obama Pundit

by Hector N. Fertig
In a recent conversation with a good friend and self-described liberal democrat, the discussion turned to economics.  My economic position, well-known to my friend, is relatively straight-forward.

I tend to view income as labor and find appealing the idea of a flat tax for everyone beginning above some threshold.  I don’t have a [...]

by Obama Pundit
Note how the markets dove in the early Obama presidency and have risen sharply since early March:

This trend closely aligns with Rasmussen’s approval ratings of Obama.  In the early going, Obama garnered strong approval ratings and appeared to have control of the agenda in Washington.  When his stimulus bill passed on Feb. 17, [...]

Robin Hood provided one of taxations greatest soundbites, “rob from the rich and give to the poor.”  The real power behind soundbites comes when the phrase outlives the usefulness of its context.  The Obama Administration’s push for Universal Health Care/Coverage is being spun as just such a Robin Hood approach; increasing taxes upon the wealthiest [...]

This graph is popping up pretty much everywhere …
Its things like these that erode credibility when it comes time for the American public to be asked to write checks for something like Obamacare.
The President’s four year term offers shelter but all you have to do is watch Congress to see how well the public is [...]

It’s pretty amazing the things that Obama is getting away with.  Now, I don’t disagree with everything he’s doing.  I actually thought that parts of his speech in Cairo were excellent.  His strategy in Afghanistan is commendable and I am glad that he is pushing back against his base in reassessing his strategy on Gitmo and the [...]

by C. William Chattin
The faiures of GM and Chrysler, and looming failure of Ford, are hardly novel for the transportation industry.  As detailed in this informative piece in the Wall Street Journal, the auto industry meltdown closely resembles the pattern leading to the failure of the rail industry — which died in the late ’70s:
First, the [...]

by Hector N. Fertig
The day that Barack Obama was sworn in as President of the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 7,949.09 and the S&P500 was at 805.22.  These two indices are used, often blindly, to gauge the “health” of the US business environment.  On March 9th, 2009 these indices both reached [...]

by Christopher Huston
I’m not going to tussle with the fact that many in the media are cheerleading for an Obama economic recovery.  They should cheer any recovery under any President–if it is actually happening.  I certainly recall that in 1991-1992, the media willfully ignored the strong recovery that was underway under the first President Bush [...]